I am a firm believer that you are never too old to learn. I am not a traditionalist. I question everything, including myself. I am not a perfect man, nor do I expect perfection from the people I know. However, I do expect people to be real. I love to laugh and to make people laugh. I have come to realize that the truth hurts, but in truth comes freedom. We all know it hurts to be free.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Negritas!

I am dedicating this blog to the beautiful black Latinas that most of us never see. Clearly what I am saying is all relative because yes we can see them everyday but do we "see" them in dominate positions of beauty? Probably not. I know plenty of dark skinned Latinas that are gorgeous. Their skin darker than mine and their beauty reminiscent of the great queens of Egypt; and when I say queens of Egypt I am not talking about Elizabeth Taylor's "Cleopatra". I am talking about Nubian Queens from la Caribe.

I had to make a short trip to the store tonight to pick up a few things when I saw the current cover of Latina Magazine. This cover made me stop in my tracks. I know that Latina Magazine has had dark Latinas on their cover before (although not as many as blanquitas), but for some reason this just stood out to me. This started making me think about what we as Americans consider images of beauty to be. So in seeing this cover I was shocked and quite happy!

Her name is Sessilee Lopez. She is Dominican and Portuguese and is a rising star in the modeling world. She has a blog too! Now, this post is not about about her, but in January I talked about naming famous Afro Latinos that were not David Ortiz or Rosario Dawson. So I am adding her to this list.

However, as much as I want to commend Latina Magazine for this wonderful cover, I am by no means saying that they are politically correct. We all know Latinas are not shaped like your average American girl. But, you would never know that from looking at the pages of this illustrious magazine. My wife has written letters to the editor about what Latina Magazine should represent. While they have never gotten back to her, they did respond to many other letters that that were similar, which pretty much stated that Latina Magazine does not represent real Latina women.

Afro Latinas, Latinegras, Dark Latinas, Morenas, or Negritas are several different ways to call these women. I have several in my family. My cousins (who I miss very much), my mother, my aunts, my wife, and 2 sister in laws. I have grown up knowing what true beauty is.

As a dark skinned Puerto Rican I appreciate your blog topic today. Not to be biased BUT I think Latinas in general are some of the most beautiful women in the world. And it's nice to know that they are appreciated regardless of light or dark or shape or size. :)

What a gorgeous cover! It's so sad that so many cultures have fallen for the ideals that euro-features are to be found beautiful, but afro-features aren't. When people of colour can control more of the media to further shapen the view and perspection of pop culture then we will see lasting change. In my opinion, for now all I can do is to firmly plan in my children's mind their beauty and self worth so that the prevalent view can't affect them.

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Who Am I?

I was once on a journey to self redemption and now I am on that path to
reclaiming my life. I believe that there is a lesson behind every
challenge life brings me.
I am also a champion for Afro-Latinos. It has become my duty to point
out the injustices of prejudice whenever I can.

Latinos are a conglomeration of all races. There are people who have
issues comprehending that concept when it comes to social identity. They
want to point to a solid color or specific ancestry to proclaim a sense
of self worth because it is hard to swallow that we are a people born
from a history of rape and enslavement.